The City Plan Commission met 03/12/2025. The item they spent the most time discussing was the request from Appleton Downtown Inc (ADI) to install a selfie-sculpture or selfie-station in Houdini Plaza. Jennifer Stephany, ADI’s executive director, stressed that the sculpture was not intended to be “fine art” but rather an interactive marketing piece designed to prompt social media content and build the Downtown Appleton brand.
Mayor Woodford commented on the role of local government in this issue saying “[F]rom my perspective, our role as a local government and our role as elected officials, in this case, is not to micromanage the details of the piece or to apply our own aesthetic sensibilities to the piece. It is to make sure that we’re following an appropriate process for the placement of the piece.” He went on to note, “Appleton Downtown Incorporated has engaged a local artist and one of one of the most important sculptural artists in the state, if not the country, to help with this project. So, I have every confidence that what is delivered will live up to the expectations of the organization and the community.”
The committee voted unanimously to approve the placement of the self-sculpture in Houdini Plaza as requested by ADI.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
The sculpture is being designed by Larence University professor Rob Neilson. Examples of his other work can be viewed on his website. The sculpture he is designing for ADI will be made out of plate aluminum and is inspired by ADI’s locator pin logo and catchphrase “One Great Place.” The sculpture will feature multiple locator pins that will have words that highlight what is great about Downtown Appleton. The words will be removable so that they can be switched out for the various seasons.
It was noted that, although the word “Beer” was featured in some of the concept art for the sculpture, “Beer” will probably not be one of the words that makes it onto the final product.
The sculpture will be placed in Houdini Plaza along Appleton Street just south of the Houdini Plaza fountain. This location was chosen because of its central location to downtown, its closeness to various events that take place within that corridor, the ease of snow removal, and the availability of concrete in which to anchor it securely, as well as to ability of people to easily walk up to it but for it to not be encroaching into any sidewalks.
As highlighted by the discussion on this item that took place at the Parks and Recreation Committee, public feedback regarding this sculpture has been predominantly negative with criticisms generally centering around the aesthetics of the piece and its location.
At the City Plan Commission meeting, Ms. Stephany emphasized that the piece was not intended to be fine art. “It’s designed to be interactive, to help tell your story, to build social media content, and to help build the brand of your district.” It was inspired by a desire to emulate Green Bay which has an “I (Heart) GB” sculpture at CityDeck and Sheboygan which has a sculpture highlighting its status as “The Malibu of the Midwest”.
Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) wondered if the piece should be referred to as a “selfie station” and felt that the fact that it had been called a sculpture had caused some confusion. She said, “I think some of us still have a little trauma from [The Collective sculpture] that was further down College Avenue a few years ago. And so, with it being called a sculpture, I got some pretty negative feedback from my constituents.”
Mayor Woodford spoke highly of ADI and its work, saying, “I want to recognize the efforts of Appleton Downtown Inc, which is Appleton Business Improvement District, which was an entity created by the City of Appleton to promote the downtown, to support local businesses. ADI, of any organization in our community, has a vested interest in doing things that that look good, that promote the district, that support business development and retention in our downtown district.”
He went on to say that the purpose of the approval process was to make sure that the sculpture and its installation met the requirements of the Municipal Code. “[J]ust as art is subjective, language about art is subjective. So, you call a sculpture, call it a selfie station, but fundamentally what we’re what we’re doing, is working our way through an approval process to allow for the placement of this piece—whatever you want to call it—this piece in public right of way and on public land. And so as far as getting into the elements of the piece, the design of the piece, from my perspective, our role as a local government and our role as elected officials, in this case, is not to micromanage the details of the piece or to apply our own aesthetic sensibilities to the piece.”
He encouraged people who were viewing it critically as fine art “to recognize that what this is an effort on the part of Appleton Downtown Inc to carry out its mission, which is, again, to promote having a vibrant, livable downtown district, to create opportunities for people to connect with this community.”
He also spoke highly of Professor Neilson who is creating the piece, saying, “Appleton Downtown Incorporated has engaged a local artist and one of one of the most important sculptural artists in the state, if not the country, to help with this project. So, I have every confidence that what is delivered will live up to the expectations of the organization and the community.”
Alderperson Fenton said that she had initially intended to oppose the sculpture but after watching the Public Arts Committee meeting and the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting at which this item had been discussed she changed her mind. “I think the mayor made a really good point in that we are not art judges; that that is for somebody else. And so, over the course of the week, I’ve changed my mind, and I am going to be supportive of this next week for Council”.
The committee was reassured that ADI would be responsible for maintaining the sculpture and making sure it continued to appear in good condition. Ms. Stephany said that they already do that with the GROW sculpture that is in Houdini Plaza and that they intended to have an annual review with city staff to make sure they were meeting expectations on the upkeep of the piece.
The commission voted unanimously to recommend the item for approval.
[I don’t think that there was any confusion from the public over what the sculpture (or “selfie station”) was intended to be or do. Obviously, it’s supposed to be a silly little sculpture that people take pictures by. The problem is that, even for what it is, it’s very soulless and corporate.
The Green Bay sculpture highlights something recognizable and enjoyable about Green Bay and Wisconsin. Green Bay is home of the Packers. Everybody loves cheese. Everybody loves the Packers. Packers fans are called Cheeseheads. These things all come together in Green Bay, and the sculpture highlights that fact in a straightforward manner that promotes good feelings in passersby and prompts some of them to take pictures and post those pictures to the internet.
The Sheboygan sculpture highlights the quirky fact that Sheboygan is the surfing capital of the Midwest. One wouldn’t think that surfing could happen in the Midwest, but if you can’t make it all the way out to Malibu you can come to this small Wisconsin town of 50,000 people you can indeed surf on the waters of Lake Michigan. It is a wonderful, delightful miracle. And this sculpture provides a way for people to take a picture, share it with the internet, and remember the location of that miracle.
A sculpture of locator pins isn’t quirky. It isn’t fun. It doesn’t engender happy feelings. And it doesn’t highlight anything particularly unique about Appleton. Every city has restaurants and shopping and many have farmers markets, Octoberfests, and live music. The things being advertised by this sculpture are not things that people have to come to Appleton to experience. If you want to bask in center of the full cheesy glory of Packer-loving Wisconsin you have to go to Green Bay. If you want to surf in Wisconsin, you have to go to Sheboygan. What does Appleton offer that you can only experience here? Whatever that thing is should be the sculpture.
Until then, we’re going to have to settle for a soulless, corporate, marketing gimmick. Perhaps that does sum up Appleton.]
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1263779&GUID=606EE743-69A2-4A15-85BA-2D26FCEE4A40
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